Happy Friday! I am very much looking forward to having a relaxing weekend at home. The week hasn’t been overly busy but it feels that way because Travis has been away for work training so it’s just been me and the kids all week. I’m planning on spending some time getting organized for some upcoming fundraisers that we’re planning for our fundraising efforts with Team Up! With Autism Speaks.

Chicago will be my first time running for Autism Speaks (Travis ran with them for both Chicago and NYC last year) but it will not be my first time as a charity runner. I ran the 2014 Nike Women’s Half Marathon- D.C. with Team in Training (still my favorite race so far). There are a wide variety of reasons that you can choose to run for a charity. It’s a great way to get a bib for a race that may have a lottery or sell out quickly and most charities have half marathon and full marathon race options. Here are a few things to keep in mind when considering to run for charity.

Is the fundraising amount realistic for you?: Some of the larger races like Boston and NYC have pretty high fundraising amounts (the minimum for Boston is $7,500). Most of the time when you commit to a race as a charity runner you’re telling them that if you are unable to fundraise the minimum that you’re willing to pay the difference out of pocket. Usually the funds have a deadline of a few weeks before the race to be submitted.

How are you going to fundraise? It’s a good idea to have a plan before you commit as to how you’re going to raise the funds. For my Nike race I held a “celebrity” bar tending event at a local restaurant where all of the tips I made during the event went to my charity. For Team Up! we are hosting our Piece By Piece 5k, which was able to help Travis nearly double his fundraising goal for Chicago last year.

Does the charity have meaning to you? It seems a lot easier to talk to people about your fundraising when you can explain why you’re running a race and fundraising for a specific charity. Our main reasoning for running with Autism Speaks is our son Parker. This is a cause that directly affects our family and is something we are passionate about.

Are there other events during race weekend: For Team in Training there was a mandatory meeting that I had to attend the day before the race. For Team Up there is a team dinner that isn’t mandatory, but Travis had to make sure to check in at the expo. These are things to consider especially if you’re traveling for said race.

What happens if you get injured? Different charities have different policies regarding dropping out of a race due to injury. Some of the time you might be able to defer to the following year as long as you have met a certain amount of your fundraising requirement. Having to drop out due to injury is definitely not an ideal situation but you definitely want to know what to expect should this circumstance arise!

11 thoughts on “Friday Five 1/29: 5 Things To Consider When Running For Charity”

There are so many good charities out there but honestly running for one intimidates me. I hate asking people to donate money even if it is for a good cause. Perhaps I just need to be more persuasive…lol

This is a timely post for me. I am running the London Marathon for the National Osteoporosis Society. This charity has special meaning to me, like Autism Speaks for you, because my mother, sister and I also suffer from osteoporosis. It has been interesting since I am not good at asking for money, but friends and family have been very generous.

These are really great tips! I’ll be fundraising for the Cherry Blossom Run, it’s my first time raising money for a running event and I’m a little bit nervous! Great idea to do celebrity bartending, I may need to borrow that idea! 🙂 And that’s great that you can work with a great organization that means a lot to you.

That’s awesome! What charity are you running for? The bar tending was really fun, and we raised about 550$ in 3 hours. The bar had their staff behind the bar as well to handle their register and we had some companies donate products and did raffles for donation. If you decide to do it let me know how it works out!

I would love to be involved with Girls on the run- I think it’s a fantastic organization. Unfortunately there isn’t one anywhere near me. We’ve really enjoyed running for charity. Not only do you raise money and awareness but we have met some pretty amazing people along the way too!